WEAK DAYS SUCK

We've all heard the cliches, "Thank God it's Friday," "Oh God it's Monday," "Same sh** different day." The banal list goes on and on, yet for many of us these commonplace expressions are much more than merely woeful chatter. They're a deep and direct reflection of how we spend a good part of our everyday lives - wishin and workin for the weekend.

For the majority of us that means spending upwards of 40, 50, and 60 hours a week doin somethin that, aside from puttin a few bucks in our pocket, is completely and utterly unsatisfying. And ya know what? That sucks. It's commendable. It's honorable. But it still sucks. And ya know what sucks even more? Not takin full advantage of the little bit of remaining time in your workweek to do somethin about it.

It's been said that nothing separates successful people from unsuccessful people more than how they spend their time. So...how do you spend your time, or in this case, your spare time? Let me guess, "What spare time?" "Are you *%&^$ nuts?! Okay, fare enough. But in the midst of all the perpetual chaos here's somethin you might wanna ponder. While we're all busy these days, we're not too busy, not by a long shot, not by at least four hours of TV a day according to Neilson reports. Not too busy for browsin the internet, for Facebook, Twitter, and for those impromptu jaunts to the mall. "Dinner and a movie?" "Sure why not?" Oh and how bout waterin the yard? Washin the car? and, well, you get the idea.

Now I'm certainly not sayin you don't deserve some downtime, however, if you happen to be a part of the growing population of adult Americans who are currently grappling with a lurking sense of discontent I suggest you maybe rethink how you spend it.

Here's a thought, when it comes to spendin some of that hard-earned cash in your pocket I'm guessin you probably wanna get the most for your money right? So why expect any less of your time, especially your spare time, ya know, that precious commodity reserved just for you to spend absolutely any which way you choose?

Time and money, seems like an appropriate enough analogy, but please, make no mistake, this has absolutely nothin to do with the age-old adage "Time is money." But instead, with the reassurring idea that your time is at the very least every bit as valuable. In fact, what I've discovered over the past few years is that the better I spend my time the more valuable it becomes. Be it an hour or two or a moment or two, when it comes to my time it's always a thumbs-up feelin knowin I've got the most "bang for my buck." Oh I exercise my right to relax alright, probably a bit too much so during hockey season, but even then if I don't get at least a little somethin done throughout the day that thumbs-up feelin goes south real quick. And that's simply because from a personal standpoint I feel as though I've let myself down, I didn't do what I needed to do, and that means a day wasted, as well as, an opportunity missed. And in the penetrating words of Austrian author Mary von Eber-Eschenbach, "Nothing is so irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity."

"Come on Pat you're talkin a few minutes here and there, maybe skippin a day or two now and then." "What's the big deal?" "No harm done right?" Maybe, maybe not. But here's someone (Courtesy of One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Dr. Robert Maurer) who I'm sure would argue with you tooth and nail over just how big a deal a few minutes a day can be. Even one minute for that matter.

"Julie sat in examining room, her eyes cast downward. She had come to UCLA's medical center for help with high blood pressure and fatigue, but the family-practice resident and I could see that much more was going on. Julie was a divorced mother of two, and by her own admission a little depressed and overwhelmed, working constantly just to keep her kids housed, clean, and fed. Her only solace was relaxing for a half-hour or so on the couch most evenings. Clearly, the young doctor and I were concerned about about Julie's long-term health, her weight (she was carrying more than 30 extra pounds) and soaring stress put her at an increased risk level. Of course both my colleague and I knew a cheap and proven way to help Julie, and it wasn't a bottle of pills or years of psychotherapy. It was exercise. Regular physical activity could improve nearly all of Julie's health problems, give her stamina, as well as, boost her spirits. Once I might have offered this free and effective treatment with all the zeal of a new convert. Go jogging! Ride a bike! Rent an aerobics video! I might have said. Give up your lunch break, wake up an hour early if you have to, but just get up and make that commitment to your health five times a week! But when I looked at the dark circles under Julie's eyes my heart sank. We'd probably told hundreds of patients to exercise, but very few of them wound up making it a regular habit. Julie struck me as the perfect candidate for change in its smallest and least threatening form.

I looked on as Julie waited to hear what the resident had to say. As I predicted, she talked to Julie about the importance of getting some exercise, and just as she was about to tell Julie to spend at least 30 minutes a day on aerobic exercise, a recommendation that would have likely been met with disbelief and anger, I found myself jumping in. How about if you just march in place in front of the TV each day for one minute? The resident shot me an incredulous look. Julie, however, brightened a little, and said, "I could give that a try."

When Julie returned for a follow-up visit she reported that she'd indeed marched in front of the TV set for one minute each night. Granted, she wasn't going to get much healthier with just 60 seconds of low-intensity exercise. But during this second visit I noticed that Julie's attitude had changed. Instead of coming back discouraged as so many failed exercisers do, Julie was more animated, and with less resistance in her speech and demeanor. "What else can I do in one minute a day?" she wanted to know.

I was thrilled. A small success, yes, but much better than the all-around discouragement I'd seen so many times before. Again, this small action didn't do much for her aerobic capacity, but for Julie it had a different and perhaps even more significant effect. It opened a window to the possibility of fitting exercise into her life. Almost without realizing it this extraordinarily busy woman found a way to eventually meet the American Medical Association's guidelines for thirty minutes of cardio, and to actually enjoy it. For Julie, exercise had become a habit, one she now dearly missed if it were skipped."

Upon reading this story I felt that what resonated with me most was when Dr Maurer said, "This small action didn't do much for her aerobic capacity, but for Julie, it had a different and perhaps even more significant effect."

Gettin back to the time/money analogy for a minute, I guess you could say that what Julie's done is put a little spare change in the till each and everyday. And in hindsight that's pretty much what I've been doin for the past few years as well. Is it a lot? No, not really. Do I wish it were more? Of course I do. But the fact is it's adding up - it's definitely beginning to have an effect.

When I look back on my life thus far, it's painfully clear to me that it's taken quite some time to get to where I am today, (wasted time that is). And I've got a hunch that it's gonna take quite a bit more to get to where I'd one day like to be. But ya know what, that's fine by me, because quite frankly, a little "time well spent" seems like a reasonable price to pay for a more rewarding tomorrow, and a far better bargain than spendin my time wishin and workin for the weekend. See ya soon. Till then, keeep it up.